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Friday, July 29, 2016

I have interviewed over 200 quality professionals in the last year or so and
end up asking what do they prefer - Lean or Six Sigma. My original intention
was to initiate a discussion and not to arrive at a conclusion. However, as I
kept asking the same question I found a vast majority (over 80%) of candidates
saying they loved Lean. While this is fine, as we all have preferences, I
followed up the question with a WHY. This is where rubber meets the road.

Over
75% of the candidates who said they loved Lean had something like this to
say:

It
doesn’t need data (not a lot of it)

Management
gets it

It’s
faster (and easier)

Now
all these sound valid reasons. And they are just that – sound valid.

Lean doesn’t need data: Yes it doesn’t need data if you just want your theories
pushed without analysis, it doesn’t need data if you want quick fix solutions
only, it doesn’t need data if you are lazy, it doesn’t need data if you don’t
know how to analyze it. You get the point I am sure.

If
you want to do a proper job Lean needs as much if not more data than Six Sigma
needs. You can’t do a good Value Stream Map without data. You can’t do any
Value Added analysis without data. You can’t load balance or do Takt time
calculations without data. Almost any analysis you want to do using Lean tools
you will need data. The same data that you need when you use Six Sigma.

Management get it: Management gets it kind of assumes that they don’t get
the other stuff Quality managers talk about. Most Quality managers think
management does not care about their ideas. Little introspection will tell us
that management is where they are because they (usually) have brains and have
done enough to be at that position. If they don’t get what you say it is highly
likely the fault is in your messaging and not their understanding.

Most
Quality managers talk too much tool and technique for management to be
interested. They are short on time and need outcomes. We are paid to know and
follow the process. Management is paid for outcomes. Please make your message
clearer and outcome oriented to help them understand. Don’t blame Six Sigma in
favor of Lean if you can’t explain it.

It’s faster:
Yes Lean is faster. If you are thinking it is a short cut to projects then yes
it is faster. Lean is not just about projects. It’s also a way of managing your
operations. If you are implementing Kaizen (part of a larger Lean body) you
don’t need it to be fast or slow. You need it to make an impact. Lean projects
use A3 methodology which is not very different from DMAIC. Why would it be any
slower or faster.

While
projects do need to be done faster than what we did five years ago, this does
not mean Six Sigma is not good enough and Lean is. Lean projects, properly
done, take as much time as a well done Six Sigma project. Speed comes from
execution not from the method.

In
conclusion – you may love Lean over Six Sigma but please find good reasons. Not
lazy ones.

This post first appeared at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/everybody-loves-leanfor-wrong-reasons-anshuman-tiwari?trk=pulse_spock-articles